We came across data from Mailchimp – so we decided to break it down and create graphics for quick reference.

2018 Email Marketing Benchmarks by Industry

The 2018 data is based on the analysis of hundreds of millions of emails.

Open Rate: did the user open the email.

Click Through Rate: Did the user click through to your website.

Unsub Rate: The rate at which users unsubscribe from your email.

Bounce Rate: The average of soft and hard bounces.

What you’ll notice is that the averages vary by fractions of a percent. This slight difference in percentage may not seem like much, but when a business is sending out thousands of emails, this can result in a huge difference in ROI.

2018 Agriculture and Food Services Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the agricultural and food service industry.

Open Rate: 24.71% CTR: 2.98% Unsubscribe Rate: .29% Bounce Rate: .51%

2018 Architecture Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the architecture industry.

2018 E-commerce Email Marketing Metrics

Below you will find the 2018 average for open rate, click through rate, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for eCommerce email marketing.

Open Rate: 16.75% CTR: 2.32% Unsubscribe Rate: .23% Bounce Rate: .27%

2018 Education and Training Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the education industry.

Open Rate: 22% CTR: 2.63% Unsubscribe Rate: .20% Bounce Rate: .5%

2018 Entertainment and Events Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the entertainment and event industry.

Open Rate: 21.21% CTR: 2.33% Unsubscribe Rate: .28% Bounce Rate: .5%

2018 Health and Fitness Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the health and fitness industry.

Open Rate: 21.93% CTR: 2.57% Unsubscribe Rate: .39% Bounce Rate: .44%

2018 Home and Garden Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the home and garden industry.

Open Rate: 23.82% CTR: 3.47% Unsubscribe Rate: .37% Bounce Rate: .48%

2018 Insurance Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns for insurance companies.

Open Rate: 21.56% CTR: 2.11% Unsubscribe Rate: .26% Bounce Rate: .79%

2018 Legal and Law Firm Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns for lawyers and law firms.

Open Rate: 22.49% CTR: 2.99% Unsubscribe Rate: .23% Bounce Rate: .71%

2018 Manufacturing Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the manufacturing industry.

Open Rate: 21.74% CTR: 2.33% Unsubscribe Rate: .36% Bounce Rate: 1.9%

2018 Marketing and Advertising Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the marketing and advertising industry.

Open Rate: 17.81% CTR: 1.92% Unsubscribe Rate: .28% Bounce Rate: .69%

2018 Medical, Dental, and Healthcare Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns for dentists and the general medical and health industry.

Open Rate: 22.43% CTR: 2.42% Unsubscribe Rate: .30% Bounce Rate: .51%

2018 Non-Profit Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns for non-profits.

Open Rate: 24.98% CTR: 2.76% Unsubscribe Rate: .19% Bounce Rate: .45%

2018 Pharmaceutical Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the pharmaceutical industry.

Open Rate: 20.02% CTR: 2.51% Unsubscribe Rate: .22% Bounce Rate: .76%

2018 Professional Service Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the professional services industry.

Open Rate: 20.89% CTR: 2.47% Unsubscribe Rate: .31% Bounce Rate: .82%

2018 Real Estate Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the real estate industry.

Open Rate: 20.84% CTR: 1.91% Unsubscribe Rate: .31% Bounce Rate: .56%

2018 Recruitment Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the recruiting and staffing industry.

Open Rate: 20.73% CTR: 2.18% Unsubscribe Rate: .32% Bounce Rate: .56%

2018 Church Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns for churches and religious institutions.

Open Rate: 26.46% CTR: 3.11% Unsubscribe Rate: .13% Bounce Rate: .18%

2018 Restaurant Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns for restaurants and the event industry.

Open Rate: 21.17% CTR: 1.25% Unsubscribe Rate: .26% Bounce Rate: .23%

2018 Retail Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the retail industry.

Open Rate: 20.96% CTR: 2.50% Unsubscribe Rate: .28% Bounce Rate: .32%

2018 Software and App Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the software and web app industry.

Open Rate: 20.95% CTR: 2.29% Unsubscribe Rate: .39% Bounce Rate: .95%

2018 Sports Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the sports industry.

Open Rate: 25.41% CTR: 3.19% Unsubscribe Rate: .29% Bounce Rate: .44%

2018 Travel Email Marketing Metrics

Below are the 2018 averages for open rate, CTR, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate for email marketing campaigns by the travel and transportation industry.

Open Rate: 20.69% CTR: 2.17% Unsubscribe Rate: .24% Bounce Rate: .56%

In Conclusion

So now that you have found your industry specific email marketing stats, you next question is, “how do I lower bounce rate and unsubscribe rate, and increase open rate and click through rate?”.

This is a much more complicated problem that requires a custom solution. But, in short, the way to get better email marketing stats is to make sure you are providing value with every email you send, and you’ve segmented your list to ensure your emails are contextually relevant to the users who are receiving them.